Often, upper back pain between the shoulders is caused by a muscle strain due to overuse, injury or poor posture, and although the resulting discomfort can range from mildly uncomfortable to severe and debilitating, the root cause can often be corrected with a combination of rest, stretching and exercise.
Surgeons have long advised patients to stop smoking cigarettes for several weeks before their operations to lower the risk of complications. But what about weed? New research has found reason for worry: Marijuana users had higher infection rates after minimally invasive knee and shoulder procedures. Patients also had higher rates of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) or potentially dangerous blood clots, though those risks were not statistically significant.
Whether arising from being felled on the soccer pitch or a seemingly harmless collision with a coffee table, a minor injury to the cartilage in your knee can have major consequences. In the worst case, the weak spot gives rise to severe arthritis and an artificial knee is the only hope. However, if the problem is caught early, further deterioration could be prevented by a patch repair.
University of Michigan researchers examined the effects of three months of exercise on people with obesity, and found that exercise can favorably modify abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue, the fat tissue just beneath the skin, in ways that can improve metabolic health—even without weight loss.
When your muscle gets damaged—even just a little—it can cause inflammation in the bands of muscle and the fascial layer above. And that clump of inflamed tissue is a myofascial trigger point. The little lumps are typically tender to the touch and can limit your range of motion or lead to pain during various movements.
